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An archaeological industry exists from stone tools. That uses a sophisticated method of shaping stone cores to produce predictable flakes

Mousterian industries refer to a distinctive stone tool technology. Some say it was associated with Neanderthals in Europe and Asia, and both early modern humans, and neanderthals in Africa.

Most agree this technology was associated during the Middle paleolithic period. And, may have lasted from 300,000 to around 30,000 years ago. When both more modern tools and humans begin appearing.

Some say the Mousterian industry in North Africa is estimated to be 315,000 years old (2)

Artifacts from 100,000 years ago are indistinguishable. These types or early modern humans indicated that humans and neanderthals may have lived and traded together.

Levallois Technique
Named after the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris. Is a method of creating stone tools. Mouseterian industry used the Levallois techniques, or something similar. They first striked flakes off a core. Along the edges. Creating a pre-prepared core. It allowed tool users to customize the preped shape to what was necessary for the job. Once the cores were preped. They could strike it in such a way, intended tools could be flaked off. With its edges pre-sharpened.

One notable feature is that standardization and versatility is found. Demonstrating planning and cognitive abilities. The Levallois technique, and mousterian toolkits were well adapted and modified for different purposes.

Raw materials Flint, chert, and other fine-grained rocks were used
Tools included: hand axes, scrapers, and points. And, whatever else they could find for working hides, butchering animals, and wood-working.

Mousterian industry sites on Istrian peninsula (Turkey) are Romualdova pećina and an open-air site at Campanož (3)

Important Mousterian sites with significant Neanderthal finds were in Croatia at Krapina,
Vindija, Velika pećina and Veternica (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)

On the Adriatic coast finds include
Mujina pećina; and, Velika pećina (late Mousterian) (9)

The Mousterian industry represents an important stage in human and neanderthal cultural and technological evolution. It provides valuable insights into earths paleolithic capabilities and behaviours. It is also significant because it overlaps with the period when modern humans began to expand into regions occupied by Neanderthals, possibly leading to interactions between the two species. Check it out with some more neolithic architecture today!

Cite: 1) Haviland, William A.; Prins, Harald E. L.; Walrath, Dana; McBride, Bunny (24 February 2009). The Essence of Anthropology (https://books.google.com/books?id=AmvJ1XtnIQoC&pg=PA87). Cengage Learning. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-495-59981-4

2) Richter, Daniel; Grün, Rainer; Joannes-Boyau, Renaud; Steele, Teresa E.; Amani, Fethi; Rué, Mathieu; Fernandes, Paul; Raynal, Jean-Paul; Geraads, Denis (2017-06-07). “The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age”. Nature. 546 (7657): 293–296. Bibcode:2017Natur.546..293R (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017Natur.546..293R). doi:10.1038/nature22335 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature22335). ISSN 0028-0836 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-0836). PMID 28593967 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28593967). S2CID 205255853 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:205255853)

3) Harvati, Katerina; Roksandic, Mirjana (2017-01-18). Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and its Context (https://books.google.com/books?id=U7fzDQAAQBAJ). Springer. ISBN 978-94-024-0874-4

4) Karavanić, Ivor; Vukosavljević, Nikola; Janković, Ivor; Ahern, James C.M.; Smith, Fred H. (November 2018). “Paleolithic hominins and settlement in Croatia from MIS 6 to MIS 3: Research history and current interpretations”. Quaternary International. 494: 152–166.
Bibcode:2018QuInt.494..152K (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018QuInt.494..152K).
doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.034 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.quaint.2017.09.034).
S2CID 134269685 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:134269685)

5) “Paleolithic hominins and settlement in Croatia from MIS 6 to MIS 3: Research history and current interpretations” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320382399). ResearchGate

6) Simek, Jan F.; Smith, Fred H. (1997-06-01). “Chronological changes in stone tool assemblages from Krapina (Croatia)” (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248496901293).
Journal of Human Evolution. 32 (6): 561–575. doi:10.1006/jhev.1996.0129 (https://doi.org/10.1006%2Fjhev.1996.0129). ISSN 0047-2484 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0047-2484). PMID 9210018 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9210018)

7) Ahern, James C. M; Karavanić, Ivor; Paunović, Maja; Janković, Ivor; Smith, Fred H (2004-01-01).
“New discoveries and interpretations of hominid fossils and artifacts from Vindija Cave, Croatia” (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248403001581). Journal of Human
Evolution. 46 (1): 27–67. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.09.010 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jhevol.200
3.09.010). ISSN 0047-2484 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0047-2484). PMID 14698684 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14698684)

8) “The Mousterian industry of Veternica Cave” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337978044). ResearchGate

9) Boschian, Giovanni; Gerometta, Katarina; Ellwood, Brooks B.; Karavanić, Ivor (2017-09-02). “Late Neandertals in Dalmatia: Site formation processes, chronology, climate change and human activity at Mujina Pećina, Croatia” (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618216301859). Quaternary International. Prehistoric hunter-gatherers and farmers in the Adriatic and neighboring regions. 450: 12–35. Bibcode:2017QuInt.450…12B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017QuInt.450…12B). doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.09.066 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.quaint.201
6.09.066). hdl:11568/850037 (https://hdl.handle.net/11568%2F850037). ISSN 1040-6182 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1040-6182)

Bibliography:
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Shea JJ. 2014. Sink the Mousterian? Named stone tool industries (NASTIES) as obstacles to investigating hominin evolutionary relationships in the Later Middle Paleolithic Levant. Quaternary International 350:169-179.

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